Razor blade stropper and honer



je 23, 1936. E. A. JOHNSTON 2,044,850

RZOR BLADE STROPPER AND HONER Filed oct. e, 1934 2 sheets-sheet 1 E. A. JOHNS-FCN RAZOR BLADE STROPPER AND HONER 2 Shee'f,s..5heet 2 Patented June 23, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The present invention relates to devices for restoring and maintaining the cutting edges of razor blades of the double edge wafer type.

The main object of the invention is to provide a mechanism for first honing and then stropping both edges of a wafer blade without necessitating change in the position of the blade or its removal and reinsertion into contact with the honing and stropping mechanism. Another object is to produce mechanism for the purposes stated which is simple, compactly arranged, occupies but little space and is capable of enclosure in a casing that can be conveniently held in a users hand during manual operation of the device.

The foregoing, as well as other objects and advantages which will become evident from the detailed description to follow, are accomplished by providing oppositely disposed pairs of rolls the surfaces of which are equally divided into honing segments and stropping segments and between which pairs the blade is positioned during operation. Mechanism is provided for simultaneously oscillating the rolls while rocking the blade and for imparting a half rotation to the rolls while retaining the blade in position to thereby reverse the roll surfaces adjacent the blade from the honing to stropping segments and vice versa, the elements for actuating the blade and rolls as stated, and for assuring proper relation and accurate operation, being constructed and interconnected in a novel manner, as will be described in detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, where,

Figure 1 is an approximately full size View of the complete device as seen from one of its larger sides;

Figure 2 is an end view thereof looking at the left end of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an edge View looking at the under side of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a View of the opposite or top side of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a substantially central transverse section on the longer diameter of the device;

Figure 6 is a section taken on line 6-6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a section on line 1-1 of Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a section at right angles to Figures 6 and 7, taken on line 8--8 of Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a detail sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken on line 9 9 of Figure 5;

Figure 10 is a further detail of certain parts shown in Figure 9, viewed on line lll-Ill of Figure 5, on an enlarged scale;

Figure 11 is a detail view of one of the roll carriages embodied in the device;

Figure 12 is a. detail of the blade carriage viewed in plan;

Figure 13 is an edge view of Figure 12 and Figure 14 is a view of the removable blade rod or holder with blade thereon.

In the practice of the invention there may be used a rectangular oblong holder or casing 20 for containing the mechanism, this casing being formed with suitable openings in its sides for the several control elements and for blade insertion, as illustrated by Figures 1 to 4. Opposed roll carriages 2|, 22 are slidably mounted Within the casing on its opposite larger walls. These carriages are alike in construction and, as best seen in Figure 11, each consists of a base plate in engagement with the casing wall and upturned side anges 23, 24 provided with suitable bearing openings for the shafts 25 of longitudinally spaced parallel rolls 26. Each of the rolls, two to each carriage, have their opposite segmental halves 26a, 26", formed or surfaced `with different materials, one segment being of hard or abrasive material constituting a honing or sharp-v ening surface and theopposite segment being of softer, or fibrous, material constituting a stropping surface. The units of each pair of rolls are preferably disposed in offset relation, as seen in` Figure 1l, in order to properly present their surfaces to adiagonally disposed blade, as seen in Figure 5. Each carriage 2| has one of its longitudinal upright flanges (flange 24) in contact with the adjacent side wall of the casing, but its opposite flange, 23, is spaced from the adjacent wall sufficiently to admit a slidable rack 21 located between said flange and the casing wall. These racks are in mesh with pinions 28 fixed on the ends of the shafts 25 of the respective rolls which ends project through the flange 23.

Each of the roll carriages is provided at one end thereof beyond the rolls with spaced transverse flanges 29, 30, best seen in Figures '7 and 11, which are engaged, on the respective carriages, by opposed eccentrics 3|, 32 xed on the opposite end portions of a drive shaft 33 journaled in the casing walls and provided with a crank handle 34 on one end. With the arrangement so far described, rotation of shaft 33 will be seen to cause opposite reciprocation of the roll carriages, and as the roll pinions 28 travel on the racks 21 the rolls will be simultaneously oscillated, the construction being such that the yrolls are turned through for each movement of the carriages.

As best seen in Figure 6, the opposite racks 21 are each formed at their adjacent ends with a head 35 formed with a transverse slot 36. The respective slots receive pins 31 on the opposite ends of a cross arm 38 secured to a short rockshaft 39 the inner end of which is journaled in a bracket 40 (Figure 5) on the casing wall and the outer end of which projects from the casing and has secured thereto a throw-arm or crank 4l. With the arrangement just described, it will be seen that oscillation of shaft 39 when the roll carriages 2l are stationary will cause the racks to be shifted in opposite directions and the rolls in both carriages to be given a half rotation, thereby affording means for bringing either the honing or stropping surfaces of the rolls into position for operation on the blade. As indicated on Figure 4, suitable characters, such as I-I and S, are provided on the casing to indicate the proper position of the throw-arm 4I for honing or for stropping.

As means for holding the blade and presenting it to the rolls, there is provided a blade carrier 42 (Figures 5 and 12) formed with closely spaced parallel upper and lower arms or portions 43, 44, between which a. blade 45, carried on its holder or slide bar 46, has a sliding fit. The blade carrier 42 extends obliquely across the casing between the two pairs of rolls. Its far end is formed with a journal pin 41 received in a suitable bearing on the casing wall and its near or blade-receiving end is formed with a split bearing boss 48 journaled in a wedge shaped block 49 on the casing wall. This end of the blade carrier is provided with a fixed angularly related arm 50 having a stud or pin 5I on its end positioned to engage in a cam track 52 on the surface of a cam roller 53 fixed on drive shaft 33, the cam track being so designed as to abruptly move the arm 59 in opposite directions thereby rocking the blade carrier and alternately presenting opposite sides of the blade edges to the rolls. In order to insure the desired movement of the blade carrier, a slidable rod 54 (Fig. 5) connects an eye 55 in arm 50 with another eye 56 on the bracket 40 which rod serves as a carrier for a coil spring 51 confined between the opposite eyes. In order to provide for diagonal insertion of the blade and holder, the block 49 is exposed on the outer face of the casing wall as at 58 (Fig. 3) and cut away to provide inclined surfaces leading to the diagonal entrance slot 59.

As it is essential in order to prevent damage to the rolls that the blade carrier be locked in neutral or intermediate position when the rolls are being reversed by shifting the racks 21, and also that it be made impossible to reverse the rolls while the blade carrier and rolls are free to be oscillated, there is provided a dual control plate or arm (Figs. 5, 9, and 10) having those functions. This preferably consists of a suitable length of sheet metal bent into S-shape as seen in Figure 5. This form provides an upper angular end 60 which contacts the casing wall. At the angle between this end 6l) and the intermediate portion 6| of the central member, said member has secured to it a transverse pivot bar 62 pivoted in opposite ears 63 suitably secured to the casing wall. Thev lower, oppositely extending angularl arm 64 of the control member is extended to lie adjacent the arm 5D of the blade carrier and is forked, as seen in Figure 9, so as to be capable of interlocking with said arm. On its intermediate portion 6|, the control member is provided with a perpendicular flange 65 the lateral edges of which are adapted to contact the opposite edges of a lock arm 66 secured to rock-shaft 39 which, as previously described, controls the reversal of the rolls. The control member pivots on its rod 62 and is normally held by a coil spring 61 so that its upper angular portion 60 contacts the casing wall and its lower angular portion 64 is retracted from the arm 59, but putting the flange 65 into the path of movement of the arm 66. A push l button 68 protruding from the casing wall has an expanded base in contact with the upper portion 60 of the control member. With the control member in its normal position (Fig. 5), the shaft 39 cannot be rocked because the lock arm 66 is 1 held by flange 65, but the shaft 33 is free to be turned clockwise by crank-handle 34 to reciprocate the roll carriages and rock the blade carrier, thus sweeping the roll surfaces progressively along each side of the blade edges, due to the oblique 20 position of the blade and the combined motions of the carriages and rolls. When it is desired to reverse the rolls, the push button 68 is depressed, and as arm 50 reaches central or neutral position for the blade carrier, said arm engages in the forked end of the end B4 of the control member as the flange 65 is simultaneously withdrawn from contact with lock arm 6B. Shaft 39 is then freed for reversal of the rolls while the roll carriages and blade carrier are locked. Upon release of the push button shaft 39 becomes locked with lock arm 66 at the opposite end of its throw, and the rest of the mechanism becomes free to operate.

The mechanism described provides a simple, 3 compact and very eicient instrument having dual functions and so controlled that the operations of honing and stropping are independent and cannot be made to interfere.

The invention is obviously capable of embodi- 40 ment in mechanical forms differing from the one herein disclosed, but coming within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A blade resharpening device comprising a casing, a blade carrier rockably mounted in the casing, abrasive rolls rotatably mounted in the casing on parallel axes at opposite sides of said carrier and in position to engage the opposite edges of a double edge blade held in said carrier, 5 the axis of the carrier being oblique to those of the rolls, means for reciprocating the rolls to move them along the edges of a blade, means for simultaneously oscillating the rolls, and means for rocking the carrier as the direction of the movements of the rolls changes.

2. A blade resharpening device comprising a casing having a slideway, a carriage mounted for reciprocation on said slideway, a rack-bar slid- 6 ably mounted on the slideway at one side of the carriage, an abrasive roll journaled on the carriage having opposite segmented halves surfaced with different materials, a pinion xed on said roll and in mesh with the rack, means in the casing for holding a blade with its edge in contact with the roll, means for reciprocating the carriage while the rack is Stationary to oscillate the roll and subject a blade edge to the action of one of said materials, and means for sliding the rack while the carriage is stationary to reverse the effective surface of the roll.

3. A blade resharpening device comprising the combination of a casing formed to provide opposed slideways opposite carriages mounted on the respective slideways, a pair of slidably 5 spaced rolls rotatably mounted on each carriage, one pair of rolls being spaced from the other a sufficient distance to provide space therebetween for a blade receiving carrier, a rockably mounted blade carrier located in said space with its axis of movement extending obliquely to the axis of the rolls, means for reciprocating the roll carriages in opposite directions and simultaneously rotating the respective pairs of rolls in the direction of movement of the carriage carrying same, and means actuated by the carriage reciprocating means for rocking the blade carrier as the movement of the carriages is reversed.

4. The combination of claim 3, the rolls having the surfaces of the segmental halves thereof composed of honing and of stropping materials respectively, means for reversing the rolls to turn the opposite segments thereof into operative position at Will, and means for preventing reversal of the rolls while the carriage reciprocating means is free to operate.

EDWARD A. JOHNSTON. 

